Tom Dwan Returns to Poker TV- isnortbooze Report

Guess who's back, back again. High stakes poker legend Tom Dwan has all but dissapeared from the public eye over the last few years. But starting this Monday, he will be on a reboot of the popular Poker After Dark program. This new edition of Poker After Dark premiers this Monday at 8PM and can be seen exclusively on Poker Central's PokerGo. Dwan will also be appearing on the show Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time.

Controversary Cleared Up
There have been many rumors of Dwan's whereabouts over the last few years. People have speculated that he is broke, or worse yet in debt and enslaved to the Hong Kong mafia syndicate, the Triads. In reality, he has been out of the spotlight, but playing in the highest stakes games in the world in Macau and Manila with Phil Ivey. Others are upset with him for not finishing his 50,000 hand challenge with Dan "Jungleman" Cates, going as far to say that he was a scammer. Jungleman recently cleared this up on Doug Polk's podcast, explaining the Dwan has every intention to finish the challenge and has actually paid him $7-800,000 USD in penalties for taking too long. It would seem that Dwan is not broke at all and on the contrary, doing quite well as he will pony up at least the minimum buyin of $100,000 for this high stakes matchup with $200/400 blinds and a $400 button ante. And that buyin is small potatoes compared to the Macau games, which are rumored to have millions of dollars exchanging hands in a single pot.

Tom Dwan Quotes
Dwan is never one to hold back about what he is feeling and he said some interesting things in a recent interview with Poker Central.
On the return of Poker After Dark:
"All over the world people liked watching those, and every time I get asked 'When will they be back?' I'm excited that now, after six years, they will be back."
On his previous experience with the show:
“The shows were fun, they ended up being more interesting and more fun than I expected. It also helped that I won basically every hand that I played. If I called they were bluffing, if I was bluffing they folded. I’m hoping that continues.
On production of the show:
“I’m happy to play on any show that Poker PROductions does, the cash games are bigger and in a much easier and relaxed environment and I have a good time doing them. Now seems like a good time for the show to be restarting and I’ll be there as much as I can.”

Dwan's Opponents
Tom Dwan's incalculable style made for some of the most memorable hands on the show including a hand against Antonio Esfaniari where his higher set over set felted "The Magician". Esfandiari will be back Monday to try and get revenge for that hand along with TV favorite Daniel Negreanu. High stakes icons Doyle Brunson and Andrew Robl will take the place of Esfandiari and Negreanu on Tuesday and Wednesday's shows. Additional opponents include Jean-Robert Bellande, Laura Roberts and Bill Klein.

My Personal Feelings
Dwan has been a personal hero to me since I started to take poker seriously in 2008-2010. Although I have always had faith in him, it was extremely gratifying to me to hear the Jungleman interview and have his name cleared up. One huge reason for this is that I named my son after no. Not Tom, either. That would be easily disguisable. My son's middle name is Dwan. So even though I have always been proud of his namesake, it is a big deal to me personally for the Dwan name to be untarnished and a legacy my son can be proud of one day. I managed to make it through the World Series of Poker without subscribing to PokerGo. But there is no way in hell I'm missing these shows and I'm sure I will be one of many who subscribes just to get another look at the legend that is Tom Dwan.

250 Thank You Tickets
I will be giving out three 250 Guaranteed Freeroll tickets to people who respond below. What do you think about Tom Dwan's return to the poker mainstage? Who would you like to see on Poker After Dark? Entries must be received by Wednesday at 9AM EST to qualify. The winners of these tickets will also be entered into the following Sunday's last longer for the chance to play me heads up for 30 chips in Betcoin's newest promotion, Tipsy Chips. For more information, inquire below.

30 Comments

Tom dwan has gotten many young players such as my self into the game of poker. He was an absolute monster online and I would just sit back sometimes and just watch him at work on full tilt.

I would love to see the poker after dark with him back since the only event I've seen him play in the past few years or so was a Chinese broadcasted event where he played another online crusher fish2013 heads up after out lasting what seemed like a relatively weak field.

Bit confusing that the whole ordeal over the hands was not cleared up earlier, it was allowed to go on for a long time without Cates explaining the situation and letting Dwan look super bad. Something smells off on that story but we got to take them for their word.

Loved Poker after dark and watching them try to bully Dwan early on. If I was to pick some one to see, I would like to see some personalities that clash a little. Maybe Timex (Mike Macdonald) or Gavin Smith. Keeping it regional and picking two Canadians. Mikes a real cool guy and I miss getting help from him.

Its been way too long and while Twitch is nice and all, nothing compares to Poker After Dark or HSP. I love watching the worlds best cash game players fight it out and I have learned countless things just by observing them closely (and watching every episode dozen + times) I am Happy to see Doyle is still thrown in the mix and am interested to see how his game changed over the past few year, for better or worse. Lets face it, 3 years to many grinders on Betcoin will see a tremendous difference with their game. So, how does it effect someone who is now 84?!
As far as a player Id like to see on the upcoming season (feels so good writing that) besides the obvious (Phil Ivey), I hope David Benyamine makes appearance. Its amazing how under rated he is. He's not the most entertaining guy on the felt, but mainly watch the show to try analyze players like Dwan, Ivey, Benyamine. Poker After Dark does a great job and seems to always create an atmosphere where people who prefer to watch the in depth play, or those of you who just like to see big pots. With the side prop betting, table banter and stories from past, its very interesting to be able to get a glimpse of how they lead the lives they do.

I also have made it thru wsop without Poker go, but I will be subscribing for this

Finally some news! It has been an itch not scratched for so long..always wondered the hell happened to Dwan..it would be refreshing to see him again..always loved his style..looking forward to this..nice one scot

Always nice to see Dwan. I think the most exciting thing is to see how he's going to be playing, since we all remember him as a pretty crazy and loose player. it's gonna be interesting to see if he slows down now that math is more stoned in and everyone else is a bit tighter.

Gonna need a lot more the DUUUUUUR then make me watch any poker go production, I was never a Dwan fan til I saw him steal Glass Straws from a steak house so he had a something to snort yayo with......ill keep my out for someone streaming this then I may watch

I made it through half the Cates stream. I'll probably finish it. One of the few minds I actually respect and can bear to listen to. Yeah, durrr is good. I think on Twitter his avatar is Michael Jordan? I've actually spent hours analyzing his live play. After reading this post I took the time to analyze his 500k pot with Phil Ivey 89ss vs A6dd. Lack opens a9, followed by elezra with a7o. Lakk remarks that durr can "give a list" of ways to exploit him, followed by a quiet remark from elezra that "is go na cum from these one" as he points to the left (his right) Negreanu enters with J3o, pot @ 17.6k and durr raises to 28,900 with 89s. This is actually a mind blowing good play preflop, since the 89 blocks out all of the ace middle combos from pairing on the flop and also blocks out Daniel from looking particularly well with his jack combos. Durrr is laying 3:2 odds here.

This is a blank spot for me to come back to later in order to learn from and calculate mathematically.

How does Tom know that this is such a good spot to raise? Has he seen this situation before? Can he feel it? Is that relevant? By assuming that we have already seen a situation, I think we limit ourselves to poor analysis, or incomplete at best, unable to deal with changing outcomes. In any case, at this time, it seems to be a good play. There are now 5 players in the pot and Lakk now syncs with my analysis, remarking that there are five chips to call. He had previously appeared to be ahead of me time wise. This is where I believe the raise by Dwan could be construed as a failure, depending on the purpose of the outcome here. Tom makes a quiet remark that I can't hear, followed by a smiling fold by Lakk who says "durr might be the best"

Elezra wears a frank expression, seems to mimic his eyes to the situation, toys with his cards absent mindedly, akin to a deck cutter, and then reverts to his base ego form, folding, saying "worst laydown i may kin my live"

Ivey enters into the mix with stone cold sauce eyes, the look only a true degenerate can hold. After slight shaking and analysis, he enters the pot with a breathless shot, seeming to be outside of the action.

Durr appears to make a sharp movement ahead of his unconscious play, before his ego can enter the mix, and gives off a past-time based sound of the situation that I suspected he may have already encountered, meta wise. He then begins to vibrate noises that appear to be stimulation based, akin to "shooting" or maybe a form of sexual energy, while maintaining what would appear to be a calm and fun demeanor.

Ivey doesn't miss a beat and shows his lightning hands, calling the bet 45,800 bet on kq10dd. He asks Durr in a knowing tone: "how much did you start this hand with durr" with his hand placed in "meta entry position". Durr immediately answers, about 750. The 7 here is the open spot in the hand where the edge and blind entry occurs. I have a single pattern to support this assumption from my own live analysis of a player who was playing a 6 - 9 off hand next to me in the cut off where I had guessed this was where the edge lied in the hand. It also fits combinatoric wise against the folded hands. Ivey then begins to eminate original judaic energy followed by a smiling, sharp predatory look at durr which appears forced followed by a left three finger scratch by a player off camera, which appears to be a force outside of the action in time continuums. The 3 of spades then falls. Durrs hand immediately ticks and confirms the action. At this point, it's difficult to gauge where he is and whether he is conscious. The hand movement appears automated against his previous actions, however we do not have any data to support this assertion. Left hand remains still and connection to an interesting presence followed by a calm pop of breath by dwan and a presence that I know well. Ivey, hunched down, is staring back at dwan in a diamond white/brown meta like fashion. Durrs breath vibration changes as he reaches for the chips to a mechanical, vader like sound, followed by ivey reverting to a rectangle entry like pattern and a shift to a strong predator pose, followed by a blink correction to a buddhist like presence. Durr then appears to shift backwards in time to a child like presence and looks at his chips in the pleasing, shooting like way, with the left hand and two fingers and medium predatory instincts. Upon the bet being thrown out, Ivey's brain immediately shuts down, followed by a knowing look and then shooting quick flickers in his eyes, which normally would appear in a threatening situation. Elezra appears to be sleeping or NON EXISTENT in his position next to Ivey. IF THIS SITUATION HAD ALREADY OCCURED, it would suggest that he marks another presence in the room, in addition to the other unknowns. Durrs left hands has now sped up significantly in a cat like manner as he shuffles the chips and bets 123,200.

Unfortunately I am out of internet time so that's the end of my analysis.

Oh wow, just wow! Durr has been my hero since I started poker (it was '09-'10 if my memory is correct). His play style is astonishing crazy. I remember how I followed him playing even before it was cool (when he was denying all those interview requests and living low-key). My brightest memory is how he got 1M or something from Ivey in Europe high-stakes with that straight over straight. Only thing I hate that this will be exclusive for that PokerGO software >.< I would give my liver or something to play HU against him in nosebleed action. Who knows maybe someday I will. Work hard, play hard.

I think with out question Tom Dwan is the foremost player who inspired an entire generation of young guns to leap into the poker boom. He guy was a human rabbit's foot for at least 5 years in a row. He won literally everything. He played ANY two cards for stupid pot sizes. He bluffed like a stone cold killer and discovered bluffs like a homicide detective. In short Dwan was everything you could possibly want as a poker hero. He looked like a mad genius and a savant on almost every big hand he played. Millions watched his antics and fell in love with the game of poker. Aside from his over long decisions in TV pots and his refusal to every fold basically any hand Dwan's contributions to the world of poker have been overwhelmingly positive and fantastic for the game. I say welcome back Tom! We have all missed your style.

Tom Dwan is perfect for tv poker. Plays a lot of hands/straddles and is super agressive postflop. I remeber watching him completely destroy other pros and thinking that he must be poker genius. I had no idea how is he doing it.

Obviously the players have become much better now and it will interesting to see what is he capable to do in 2017. Maybe he has changed his style and become more tighter preflop since he doesn't have that kind of edge anymore. I still think he is the favourite to be a big winner.

Outstanding news! Dwan is a phenomenal talent and always entertaining on TV. It's also great for the check-calling nits of the world, who profit off the mere mortals that think they can mimic his brilliant play.

Dwan is my all time favorite player. Hes the reason I started poker. From his loose play to be able to bluff and read opponents. Hes great, not to mention the blank mouth open stare he has Hints the name Tom Durr Dwan. I am stoked to hear he is back on the poker scene. It will be sure to bring more players to the game. Havent heard much about him since the Durr challenge he issued and never completed with Junglemann he completed it with antoineis. Or settled or something not sure. Never the less Great to see hes back sure to see some huge pots and a lot of action. And to answer the question about the who I would like to see join him on poker after dark? Who else but Phil Ivey, Daniell Negreanu, Phil Helmuth, The Mouth, Patrick Antonies, And not sure if he ever appeared on poker after dark but what about the islander kid.

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I don't watch poker after dark often, but it could be a nice change of scene to see Dwan back in it :)
His almost perpetually open mouth expression is hilarious xD
With him back I might start watching it more :)
He and Phil Ivey were some of the reasons I started playing poker albeit recreational and I still have fun to this day :D

He had 8Tss vs Doyle TT. Flop 25A with 2 spades. Doyle bet like 8k, pot was 19k and Dwan raised to 200k haha. So fun.
Regarding the Macau games I hear he has been crushing. Def doesn't need backing for these games. 300k is nothing compared to his buy-ins over there. But he said he'll be back in us more for a couple years now.

Just saw Dwan winning 700k pot with aces vs kings. The guy seems to be crushing these live tv cash games. Esfandiari and Negreanu as always getting coolers and bad luck. Pretty disappointed in the first day's lineup. 3 basic ABC players that are not capable of doing big bluffs and are playing extremely cautious. They should bring in some of the hyper-aggressive online HU wizards.

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Good luck!
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